Of Daily Differences and Hormones
by GatosyVinos
Summary: Snippy in search of a new base discovers a seemingly empty, stable house, leading the group to discover it's one occupant. A female. After being alone for so long in the wasteland, how will she take to the new company? And after being in a male only group, how will Snippy, Engie, and Pilot take to her being the newest of Captain's minions. OC involved. Rating may change?
1. A Stable Base

Alrighty. I fell in love with Romantically Apocalyptic within the last few months and needed a way to escape. I've never been a great writer, but it's one of the few things (including reading) that really gets me away from reality for a bit. We all need an escape after all. This is my first attempt at any fan fiction so any criticism is welcome and helpful. It's slow right now, and I'm not near as far as I'd like but I have to be up in a bit for class and I'll chicken out if I wait until I'm sober to post. So here you are…

Snippy looked over the horizon, using the scope of his weapon to enhance his chances of seeing anything that could be problematic in the near future. Scattered destroyed houses littered the landscape, but was surprisingly barren of any roaming nuclear-fueled monsters. '_Weird'_ he thought to himself as he dropped his rifle. Usually there were at least a few of the demons running about in open areas and he had been hoping to let off some steam after a particularly frustrating argument with Pilot over Mr. Kittyhawk.

This morning, Pilot had vehemently accused Snippy of having something to do with the bizzare disappearance of Mr. Kittyhawk overnight.

"Waaaaah!" Snippy had awoken with a start to Pilot's strangled yell. "It's all your fault, you shoe!"

"Wha'? Ooph!" Snippy was hardly able to get out his query before Pilot landed roughly on him, pinning him down in his make-shift bed.

"Where is he?" Pilot's unmasked face was red, his green eyes staring daggers, and his tone, venomous. Snippy easily matched his glare after being woken up so rudely.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Snippy tried to shift his weight to make it easier to get the crazed man off of him, but Pilot only gripped his shoulders tighter, his hands becoming white because of the force he was using.

"You know damn well. You're flippy-floppy tricksies won't work on me. Where is Mr. Kittyhawk? I _know_ you kidnapped him!" Snippy's expression changed to one of confusion as he came to terms with what the maniac above him was hissing about. When Snippy didn't answer immediately Pilot shook him harshly again snarling, "_Where is he?"_

Again Snippy's confused look turned to one of anger. " I don't know where your stupid stuffed animal is." He rolled his eyes as Pilot's face reddened some more. "Why the hell would I take it anyways?"

"Because you were _jealous!_" He spat the last word in Snippy's face. "You were jealous of my friends, because you don't have any!" Snippy recoiled at the harsh implication. _'More like a fact rather than implication'_ a small voice in the back of Snippy's mind reminded him simply.

"Why would I be _jealous _of anything that was unfortunate enough to be _your _friend?" Between Pilot and that annoying voice in the back of his mind, his patience was gone. "Even if I had taken your stupid toy it would have been out of mercy so it wouldn't have to deal with you anymore!" Pilot's face became crimson, veins now visible in his neck. He raised a hand behind his head as if going for his katana that, in his anger, he hadn't noticed was still on the floor beside his own bedmat. Snippy's own hand still lie beside him unable to move since it was pinned with Pilot's leg.

"Mein minions! Zat eez _enough_!"Captain's german accent became stronger as his thundering words entered the room. Pilot stiffened looking over his shoulder as Captain stomped into the room. Snippy, seizing the opportunity, managed to worm his hands from under Pilot's grasp throwing him off to land on the floor in front of Captain. "What are you two boobs doing?"

Pilot was the first to react, falling to his knees in front of Captain crying. "That shoe kidnapped Mr. Kittyhawk!" Pilot continued his ramblings to Captain amidst sobs as Snippy, already annoyed and having had enough of the idiot for the day, scoffed and rolled his eyes but said nothing. He stood up and began to get dressed instead, trying to ignore the child-like man sobbing at Captain's feet.

"Is it true?" Captain's voice, more controlled now, was directed at Snippy.

Snippy spun around to face Captain after putting on his coat. Pilot's glowering eye's looked emerald green now from the crying. "No." he stated flatly.

"Well, then it's settled." Captain helped the still whimpering pilot to his feet, brushing off the ash and dust that came from being thrown onto the ground earlier. "There has been a heinous crime here, yes, but it was not Snippy!"

Pilot looked at Captain with disbelief, "You can't actually believe the shoe, sir!"

"If I couldn't believe mein minions, what kind of captain would I be? You must believe your captain's beliefs too if you want to be a good minion, and you do want to be a good minion, don't you?" Snippy could almost see the smirk and raised eyebrow beneath captain's mask as he asked the last question.

With that Pilot's eye's grew wide and he jumped to attention, bringing up his hand in salut. "Yes, sir!"

"That is wonderful to hear!" Captain clapped his hands together for emphasis, some of the steaming liquid spilling from his mug. "Now to move on to today's tasks! Due to the current situation, Pilot, you must track down your friend and slay the evil monster that dare kidnap a fellow minion!"

Again Pilot, still at attention, repeated himself, "Yes, sir!"

"And Mr. Snippy! Due to the recent attack that had left our base slightly unstable, you are to find us a new base and more supplies!" Snippy grumbled in acknowledgement. "Good, now be off with you as I find Mr. Engie so he can start on my biography." With that, Captain turned on his heel and walked out of the room. Pilot, his arms held out like wings beside him as he 'flew' around the room, grabbed his jacket and mask before making his way out of the room as well, leaving Snippy alone.

Remembering the incident from that morning, another waved of aggravation swept over him. He grumbled underneath his breath, lifting his scope again to his eye, hoping he had just skimmed over one by accident.

"There's got to be at least one of those da-… What's this?" His growl faded away as his line of vision fell upon a surprisingly stable looking house sitting on a hill in the distance. It was the only standing house among the rubble of hundreds of other houses that had fallen from bombs or age.

Most of the shingles were missing from the roof and the broken windows were boarded up. Where once sat a front porch was now a pile of wood with the door blocked by the falling overhang. It looked as though the house had been patched up many times before but now sat alone and abandoned to the elements. With so few of the monsters in the area and the high probability of supplies in the house, Snippy allowed himself to smile, forgetting, for once, about the argument from that morning. It wasn't very often one of Captain's mission actually went right for him.

He slung his rifle over his shoulder, a grin still plastered on his face as he imagined himself as the only one who would come back prosperous from today's tasks. "Dare I say it, but Captain might even be proud of my success," he whispered to no one in particular with a laugh before shrinking back a bit, frowning. Looking around to make sure no one had heard him, "Not that I really give two shits what he thinks," he added in for good measure just in case the quiet winds blew back his words to Captain.

Happy reading!


	2. Tainted Tadpoles

(A/N): Hello all, I did take a few liberties with Snippy in this but, nothing too major I hope. Again, thank you for taking the time to read and criticism is welcome.

Staying wary, Snippy made his way through the ruins of what seemed to once have been a large housing complex. As he passed from pile to pile of the wreckage he tried to imagine a pre-war scenery, but it looked as though this area had been abandoned even before the war. No food, no useful supplies, not even the skeletons that Snippy had grown so accustomed to seeing could be found lounging about. Perhaps it was this absence of any prior life that made him so paranoid, giving him the feeling that he was being watched.

"It's so empty." Snippy said to himself trying to break the deafening silence. He had never felt so alone before. While the framework of humans lying around may not exactly be alive, he could often feel their empty eye sockets resting upon him when he went on previous missions for Captain. He could almost hear their past whispers sliding through their open jaws. He recalled how Captain and Pilot had arrested one particular skeleton they had called 'Steve' for his 'voluminous wrongdoings against the Kingdom of Captania' which had included arguing with Captain about the moon landing, talking back to Captain in a treacherous tone, and trying to drive away in Pilot's plane. It had always amazed him how Captain and Pilot could so easily place a person into those empty shells, but now as he sat there, no 'Steve's around, he realized how human those empty shells seemed to him.

He made his way through the dilapidated building, or what was left of it before moving out into the open again. As he exited the heap of debris he noticed a lowering to his right he hadn't before, but it was what was in the lowering that really caught his attention. Graves. Rows and rows of mounds of graves. Some were newer, some older, some bigger, some smaller, but each had a small stone or plank of wood with writing on it acting as a gravestone. Curious and against his better judgment, Snippy made his way down the small slope to the strips of death.

When he came to the first mound of turned dirt he began reading the makeshift markers. The writing was clear and loopy, nothing like Snippy's own that he could remember, not that he had much to write about recently. In black paint read _Here lies Old Lady Lenore. May you forever chase imaginary kids off your lawn with your dead cat._

The next: _RIP Mr. Success. Sorry you never were one._

"What the hell?" Snippy continued reading, each one becoming odder and odder as the writing became more chaotic. _Mr. No-Name, there's a reason no one ever asked; Mr. Worm, it may not be your name but you looked like one; Mrs. Can, thank you for keeping my food safe all these years; Mysan Itti, glad to see you go._ He began to get the feeling he knew where the previous residents of the town were.

By the time he had read half of the gravestones, he began to feel nervous. His paranoia was swarming like a beehive now, creating shadows, whispering his name. He shook his head, trying to get the silhouette of an old lady swinging a dead cat out of his vision. He could have sworn he saw another shadow in the window of a nearby wall. Shutting his eyes tight, he rubbed them for a bit. "I'm too tired for this," was his answer as he lifted his head from his palms, all shadows of the past gone.

He climbed back up the small hill, heading again for his destination on the knoll now only fifty yard away. The whispers in his mind stopping and allowing the shrill buzzing of silence to set in again which did nothing for his tension. He stepped over a crumbled wall next to the still standing closed door which had once led into someone's home, making his way into the kitchen in hopes of finding food despite not being prosperous yet.

"Shit!" he yelled as a loud noise broke through the silence, spinning around, weapon raised, looking for the source of the clamor. There was no sign of movement except for a small board that was still rocking slightly on the ground, apparently the source of the racket. Snippy let out a breath of relief, relaxing his arms, letting his weapon drop again… until he felt a light pressure on his foot causing him to freeze. Dropping his vision slowly, his lens covered eyes met the small, glassy black dots of a grey rat perched upon his boot and his blood went cold. They stared at one another for a moment. The rat had grown a second tail that it was flicking back in forth in time with its other, its matted grey hair seemed patchy, and in Snippy's eyes a demon had just sat on his boot.

In a motion of pure adrenaline and panic, Snippy punted the rat off his foot, letting out a bellowing battle cry. The small rat hit the wall and began scurrying away as he pulled his rifle up and began unloading his clip at the vermin. He knew he was hitting it because he could see small splatters of blood flying from the creatures body. "Why won't you die?!" As he continued firing at the nimble little creature that seemed to dodge each bullet with fiendish speed he turned his body, gun and eye still on the rat, sprinting to the nearest exit.

Still watching the demon bounce between his bullets, thinking it was still alive even though it was merely ricocheting off of his bullets, he didn't see the low lying beam that he soon rammed his head into, full force, causing his world to go black around him.

"Gah…" A dull throbbing in his head greeted Snippy as he came too. As tried to raise a hand to nurse his sore temple, he became aware both of his hands were stuck. He opened his eyes only to darkness. '_Did I bring the rest of the house down? Am I covered in debris?'_ For a moment, the thought brought panic. If he was stuck under the ruins, would Captain notice? Surely Engie would notice, but none of them would know where to look.

'_Am I going to die here being eaten by rats?_' With that last thought his heart skipped a beat and he began to struggle against whatever held him down.

"Finally up, buzzard?" A muffled voice stopped his struggling as he tried to wrap his mind around what was going on. He wasn't getting very far by himself however. _'Who is he? Where am I? What's going on?'_ So many questions, which to ask first.

"Who am I?" Snippy blurted mixing a few of his questions together, quickly realizing the mistake and correcting himself among the other person's giggles. "I mean… who are you and where am I?" He heard a door close.

"I was wondering how hard you hit yourself. But you're on my territory so I don't have to answer your questions. You can answer mine though." The muffled voice seemed to grow clearer. Snippy didn't enjoy not being able to see. Noticing breathing was more difficult than normal, he guessed that there was a bag over his head getting in the way of the filter. "Who are you?"

Snippy considered arguing but he didn't feel like he was in much of a position to debate. "Snippy. But before we go on, can I lose the blindfold?"

The voice was quiet, which Snippy assumed meant it was weighing it's options. He didn't have to wait too long though before he felt a tug on the fabric covering his face. Still darkness. Then another tug and he could see the masked person in front of him holding the two canvas bags that had covered his head and a small rifle. The man was short, a head or so under Snippy's own height. His gas mask covered the lower portion of his face. A dirty green jacket hung awkwardly on an obviously slim frame, the hood pulled tight over his head. The BDU pants were seemingly just as ill-fitting as the jacket. The oddest, but perhaps most interesting feature visible, were his goggles, nestled over his eyes, having an iridescent appearance. With each turn or nod of the head, the color would go from one color to another. Green, blue, red, yellow mixed together like an oil spill.

After measuring up his captor, his eye scanned the room, searching for a possible way out if given the opportunity. Snippy was laid out on an old cot, effectively tied down with quite a bit of rope. There was one closed door behind the small man, no real windows, but on the wall the cot leaned against someone had drawn a window with a view of a green meadow with mountains in the background. The drawings seemed to be a theme among the room. I plant was painted in the corner, and a bookshelf against the wall opposite him. It was slightly homey in a disturbing way. Snippy turned his eyes back to the problem at hand. "Two? You really needed two bags? Were you trying to suffocate me?"

The short person looked down at the bags he held then again at Snippy, the lenses turning to a yellow with hints of red as if the goggles were blushing. "No, your lenses kept staring at me all creepy like while you were passed out so I covered your face. Then I double bagged it in case one fell off because I didn't like being creeped out. It's like you were dead and dead things don't need to be carried anywhere but the graveyard." The voice seemed to rush a bit as its breath ran out, the pitch going up to a strangely high octave.

"So you're the one that ma-" Snippy was cut short by the butt of the rifle being jabbed into his ribs causing him to lose his breath.

"No question for you!" The lenses flashed an icy blue. "Why were you out here?"

Snippy breathed deeply; he had nothing to hide. "I'm with a small group. I was sent to scout out ahead and find food."

"Small group? Where are the others?"

"Still at the other base."

"What's your commanding officers name?"

"Captain."

"How many of you are there?"

"Four including me."

"What's your favorite color?

"What?

"Are you currently on any prescribed medication?"

"Huh? No?

"If a tainted tadpole could talk to titties, would he?"

"What the hell are you on?"

"Take off your mask."

This one caught Snippy off guard. Not only did the odd questions the person was firing off turn into a command, but the voice had changed. It was higher pitched and steady, like that of a child.

"What?"

"You heard me." _'Not a child. A girl.'_ "Take it off."

"I can't move." It had been so long since he had heard a girls voice. He wracked his memories trying to recall the last female he'd spoken too. It had been on one of his last tour guide missions. One lady in particular kept screaming about how they were all going to die in the wasteland after she had seen a skeleton's head fall off and of course Snippy had gotten stuck with trying to calm her down when all he wanted to do was throw her out of the tour vehicle.

His thoughts were broken as he felt the rough tug of his mask being removed. The other person, the girl, and her iridescent goggles were only a few inches from his face. He could feel her eyes scanning his face, scrutinizing every detail. He could hear her breathing.

"You have eyes," she state matter-of-factly, nodding her head for emphasis.

"Yes." Snippy didn't know what else to say. She wasn't backing away.

"Also, your breath stinks, Mr. Buzzard." Snippy's face reddened. How long had it been since he had time to worry about his personal hygiene? No, his breath probably wasn't the best right now. Then he remembered her gas mask.

"Wait, how can you smell my breath?" She giggled behind her mask, lifting her head away from Snippy.

Her goggles glimmered green. "I can't silly Buzzard. I just had to make sure you weren't one of them."

"One of who? And why do you keep calling me Buzzard? My name's Snippy." Snippy's face was still slightly warm from the accusation she had made earlier.

"You were scavenging like a buzzard would. Not to mention the number you did on the poor rat. No good meat left to eat on it. Just like a buzzard." Snippy followed her with his eyes as walked to the foot of his bed and kneeled down. She looked his direction again, the green of her goggles again replaced by blue. "Can I trust you?"

'_She was watching me?' _Snippy looked down at her, unsure of how to answer her question. "Only as much as I can trust you," was the response he settled on.

Apparently it was close enough to what she was looking for because he felt the ropes relax around his body, her goggles shimmering random colors as she stood up again, pulling the rope off of Snippy, freeing him. He finished untangling himself from the coils and sat up slowly slightly dizzy from being down so long. He looked over to the odd girl who he once called captor, her mask and goggles now off sitting next to his. Blue eyes met hazel.

"Call me Sana."

"I have heard the languages of apocalypse, and now I shall embrace the silence." - Neil Gaiman, The Sandman: Endless Nights


	3. What's in a Nickname?

(**A/N:** The storm outside was lovely so I decided to stay up and write a bit to listen to it. It's just now over so, despite being rather short, I think I'll just go ahead and post this now. Thank you to all who have reviewed thus far with such encouraging words! They do truly mean wonders to me! As always, thank you for taking the time to read and constructive criticism is always welcome.)

* * *

"Sana…" Snippy repeated still in shock at the sight before him.

Her face round and pale with the exception of dirt and ash smudged about her low cheekbones . Dark bushy eyebrows rested above her deep set hazel eyes. Her dark hair was slicked back into a tight bun sitting at the nape of her neck. Her aquiline nose with a slightly upturned tip had a single freckle to the left of it. She looked sickly as she stood before him.

"Yes, that's exactly as I said. Now, Mr. Buzzard…"

"Snippy," he cut her off, again trying to get her to use something people actually referred to him as. "My name is Snippy."

"Is that the name you were given by your parents?" She locked eyes with him, not blinking, her stare more intense than Snippy expected.

Snippy turned away from her to admire the plant picture in the corner, breaking eye contact as he felt his face grow a bit red. "Well, it's my family name."

"Oh, well Buzzard is your new nickname then!" She smiled a large nearly perfect smile, her teeth a surprising white. Her eyes even smiled with the rest of her face, appearing more green with her excitement. "Isn't that what friends do? I read that in a book once that friends often have special things they call each other!" She chattered happily, bouncing around snippy, collecting the rope off of the bed, still smiling.

Snippy sat in shock. '_Friend? Did I miss something?'_ but he continued to sit in silence, a small smile playing on his lips. He had made a friend. How exactly, he was unsure. Her smile amazed him, filling out her facial features, reddening her cheeks, making her look alive and happy. '_And rather pretty' _his mind added as an afterthought, an afterthought which he quickly shook away, embarrassed. He watched her continue to prattle so excitedly about the book with the characters that had given each other nicknames.

"Oh! I wonder what nickname you'll be giving me? I suppose that'll come in time. I read in another book that people often got nicknames based off of things they did, but you haven't gotten to see much of me yet considering you just woke up," her voice drifting.

Snippy was brought from his thoughts, watching her as her voice trailed off, her excitement seeming to wane. As her smile fell, her eyes seemed to go back to the hazel he had seen before. It was then a little voice whispered into the back of his mind, tearing him from his happy thoughts.

_'You don't even know her. How do you know she won't shoot you in the back, slit your throat in your sleep. For all you know she'll follow you back to Captain and the rest, kill you all as you lay in bed, then steal your supplies.'_

Snippy grimaced, not only because he hated the low hissing voice that sounded so much like his own yet so different, but because it was right. How could he trust her?

"Um… Sana?" Snippy started unsure what to say next. She turned her head to him and tilted her head, waiting for him to continue. "I was curious, why were you following me out there?"

She scrunched up her forehead, frowning slightly, her eyes almost appeared to lose color. "I had to make sure you weren't one of them."

Snippy recalled her mentioning something about 'them' earlier, but hadn't thought much of it. "What do you mean? One of who?" he continued to ask about 'them,' but she didn't seem like she wanted to answer.

She dropped her eyes to the rope in her hands, inspecting it rather than answering Snippy's inquiry.

"Sana?" Again Snippy tried to gain an answer. Her head stayed down, so Snippy reached out, trying to place a supportive hand on her shoulder, but something stopped him. '_When was the last time I touched a girl?' _His hand withdrew quickly, placing it over the scar on his stomach, as he remembered the brunette girl from his dream or vision that had been trying to warn him about something before being dragged into an abyss of coffee. "Sana?" He tried once again.

"I don't kno-ow!" She let out a wail, wrapping her arms around Snippy, sobbing into his shoulder.

Snippy, shocked by the sudden outburst of emotion, sat immobilized on the bed, unsure of what to do. He looked around half expecting for the 'Coffee Flood of Doom' to appear once again and take her away. When it didn't, he turned back to the girl, wide-eyed. '_Well this is something you don't see every day.'_

Her sobs broke in his shoulder for a second as she spoke, "I-I've read everything I could! But I can't find out what they a-are!" Again, the weeping moans came, dragging out the last word into a lamenting groan.

"Ah… Sana?" Snippy tried to nudge her off his shoulder, but she only clung tighter. He had to do something to calm her, so after a bit of internal conflict settling with himself he slowly wrapped his left arm around to her back, his right still sitting on his scar hoping another like it didn't appear to wake him from this dream. Slowly, hesitantly he began patting her back softly. "It's, ah… It's ok. I was just asking." The sobs began to abate, dwindling to sniffles. The patting slowly turned into rubbing.

"I'm sorry," she whispered into his shoulder. "I really don't know what they are. I just know they've been getting closer." She lifted her face from Snippy's shoulder, her red eyes seemed to crowd around a pool as the iris took on a more blue hue. Her face sat mere inched from Snippy allowing him to see the odd mixes of blue, green, and brown that speckled her irises. Her frowning eyes making her look sickly again. "They're evil and out to kill. That's all I know."

To Snippy's disappointment, she pulled away from him again, letting his arm drop back to his knee. "Have they come after you already?"

She sighed, "Yes, a few times."

"Are you here alone?" Snippy asked, looking toward the closed door, waiting for one of her comrades to suddenly walk in to answer his question, but to his surprise she nodded her head. Then her smile slowly returned.

"Story time!" She exclaimed happily. She hopped to the middle of the room and prepared herself, heels together with feet at a 45 degree angle. Her hands were clasped at her waist. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath then began. "Once upon a time, that's how most good stories begin you know, I read it in all the books. Well, as I was saying once upon a time this was my Great Great Great Great Great Great times a million greats Grandparent's house."

'_This is going to take a while,' _Snippy thought idly to himself, getting comfortable.

"They made it into a fallout shelter in which my family has always lived and stayed in minus trips to the city occasionally at least until WWIII when I lost both my parents while they were on a trip to the city, leaving me here alone until Prince Charming comes to whisk me away in a pumpkin with no shoes. The end." Green eyes flashed with her smile again, waiting for Snippy to say something.

Confused Snippy said the first thing that came to mind, "I'm, ah, sorry for your loss. That sounds really sad to be smiling like that." He nervously fidgeted on the bed as she stared up at him, cocking her head to the side.

"I suppose it is sad." She muttered as if in deep thought. "But I really do love stories and reading." Again she perked up with a smile.

Snippy couldn't help but smile too. "You'd probably enjoy Captain, then," he said with a sigh. Then it hit him. He stood up from the bed, eye's wide. "Shit! I need to get back to Captain! And Engie! And Pilot!"

"Are those your other friends?" Sana asked, curiosity lacing her voice.

The thought of Pilot as a friend to him was incomprehensible. And Engie was always so quiet, there wasn't much to befriend there. And Captain was, well, Captain. "Eh, kinda, I guess. They're more acquaintances…" Snippy brought a hand to his head rubbing the side that was still slightly sore. "Either way, I've got to report my findings."

"Findings?" A hint of fear crossed her eyes.

"Well, I could tell them there's nothing over here and direct them elsewhere, but I would rather you join us, especially if there's something out there that's after you." Snippy said rather simply, but Sana did not seem impressed.

She narrowed her eyes to slits, giving them a black appearance. Gripping her rifle tighter, she spoke slowly, "How do I know you won't just kill me and steal everything from my bunker?"

Snippy's eyes widened at the irony of hearing his previous thoughts coming from her mouth, but then a memory came to him. One of her smiling as she bounced around the room.

"Because I'm a friend, Bookworm. And sometimes you just have to trust a friend." He smiled gently and her eyes widened a bit. Then after a moment he added for good measure, "Not to mention, friends don't kill friends then steal their things."

Again, Sana smiled that dashing smile of hers, brightening up her face. "I trust you, Buzzard. Just give me five minutes to get ready and we can go!" and with that she ran out the door leaving Snippy to his thoughts.

* * *

"Good friends, good books, and a sleepy conscience: this is the ideal life" –Mark Twain


	4. A New Minion

**(A/N):** I should probably be sleeping but I feel like I write better when I'm drunk off of lack of sleep. It also keeps the nightmares away. Again, thank you all for reading and I'm glad to say Sana finally meets everyone. Question, do you believe this story is going to slow? I try to leave out as few details as possible, but I feel like it's causing the storyline to become boring and dragged out. As always, opinions and constructive criticism are welcome!

* * *

Minutes passed by. Quite a few of them actually.

How long exactly, Snippy was unsure of because he had fallen into a light sleep after the first fifteen. It wasn't until a nightmare roused him from his slumber that he remembered what was going on.

'_How long have I been out?'_ He rubbed his eyes trying to get the last memory of his nightmare of being killed by the large red mass out of his head.

"Sana?" he tried, listening for an answer. None came. He waited a bit longer before deciding he had waited long enough. Grabbing his mask he walked to the door and placed an ear to it, again listening for any disturbances. Hearing none, he slowly tested the knob, turning it and opening the door slowly. Harsh creaks that seemed louder than they actually were broke the silence.

When the door was cracked enough he poked his head out, looking down a hallway that extended both ways. Lit by small fluorescent lamps, he looked to the right where the hallway extended for about twenty paces before it met its end at another door. There was no light showing through the small crack between the door and the floor so he assumed Sana would not be there, so he further walked out into the open hallway and began walking the other way until he met a 'T' intersection.

_'Left or right?'_ he asked himself. '_When in a maze, follow the right wall. Right it is.'_ And so that was the way he continued. He passed light after light, locked door after locked door. The hallway seemed to go on forever, that is, until it came to an end at another door, same as the others that had a large sign reading 'Speak at your own risk' in the same black paint with the same curly letters as the gravestones.

Intrigued he tried the handle that was surprisingly unlocked and walked inside the dark room. The little bit of light that filed in behind him didn't reveal much. He squinted trying to find another source of light within the confines of the area.

All of a sudden the area opened to brightness, lights were everywhere , blinding Snippy who's eyes were now used to the dark.

"Gah!" He turned around quickly, seeing Sana in the doorway. Her appearance had changed. Hazel eyes were now framed above by shapely eyebrows that had been fixed. Her long dirty blonde hair was combed out, the bulk of it up in a ponytail with bangs let down to frame her face. The ash on her cheeks was cleaned off; her pale appearance still seemed sickly though with her face showing no emotion. The clothes she wore were no longer dangling off her giving her the appearance of a small boy in a father's clothes. The jacket she wore was ashen grey, fitting snuggly, but still keeping her female anatomy hidden. Her hips and legs, however, filled out the faded black jeans she wore at least until her lower calf where they slightly flared out. The bottoms of them were ragged, apparently cut off to fit her short frame.

She brought a finger to her lips motioning him to make no more sounds and motioned a hand to guide him from the room. He nodded and began to walk towards her looking about the newly lit room. Books everywhere. They lined the shelves and littered the floor. Piles of them were neatly stacked on a small desk with a single reading lamp. So many scriptures of old. '_I didn't even know these things existed anymore,'_ he thought to himself remembering most of the people getting any needed information from the internet searches through their neural interface.

One he reached the door, he walked past her into the doorway, and she slowly closed the door behind him.

Snippy stared at her for a second waiting for a sign he was able to speak again. None came so he chanced it. "You look nice," he said quietly, shyly lowering his head like a dog who'd done wrong.

Any question of if he had actually done something wrong was whisked away with her smile as she replied, "Thank you! Now, are we ready to go?"

"Yea, after I get my rifle and bag back. You lead the way." He raised an arm motioning her too take the front which she did with pleasure skipping down the hallway. Snippy, trailing behind, only had to walk quickly to keep up with her shorter legs.

* * *

Snippy walked out again into the fouled air, mask again in place, rifle at the ready. He noticed he was coming out of a trapdoor next to his previous goal, the lone house in good condition amidst piles of houses less fortunate. '_Well, at least I was technically successful.'_

Sana followed Snippy out into the open, closing a trapdoor behind her. Much less concerned, she continued to skip across the wasteland, dodging the larger piles of debris.

_'She's almost as bad as Pilot at this,'_ he though shaking his head slightly before following her, still focusing on the areas around them, searching for anything odd.

Sana stopped and looked back noticing the distance had grown. Placing hands on her hips, she began tapping her foot impatiently waiting for the Sniper to catch up. When he finally did, she gave and exasperated sigh, "Finally!"

"This is the wasteland. It's better to take our time and make sure we don't attract any unwanted attention." Snippy replied, his logic infallible to anyone sane.

"Okay, Mr. Debbie Downer. Since we're so-o susceptible to attack here, we'll go at your pace slowpoke." Her sarcasm evident, she crossed her arms and began walking exaggeratedly slow, taking long sluggish steps as if walking through particularly deep mud.

"Oh, cut it out." Snippy snapped, still paying more attention to his surroundings. At this she stopped for a moment, her goggles staring at Snippy, black as oil.

"Fine," she muttered, half under her breath, before walking, arms crossed beside Snippy. The silence between them quickly grew tense and Snippy was unsure why.

To ease the tension, he tried to make light chit chat. "So, that was a huge library."

Silence.

"You must have had a lot of time to read." He tried again, looking over at her.

She continued to look forward, arms crossed, not speaking.

"Which book was your favorite?" He asked, hoping a question would coax some words from her lips. He looked at her again, imploring for a break in her vow of silence.

Still nothing came from her. Snippy's heart sank.

"Sana?" He watched her for any movement, any visible action that indicated she had heard him. Still nothing.

He stopped, turning toward her and grabbing her arm. "Speak to me, Sana," he now commanded, hoping he'd at least get an argument from her. Instead of the argument he was hoping for, she instead pulled away and raised her rifle, aiming for a moment before pulling the trigger.

Snippy had no time to react. He waited for the pain, but the pain never came. He looked down, but saw no blood. He looked at Sana, then down at her rifle. The angle was barely to the right of him. He followed the trajectory, looking over his left shoulder. Approximately ten feet away lie a dead wolf-like creature. A single hole, right between the eyes is what had brought it down, it's lifeless eyes now covered in black blood.

Snippy looked away from the now dead creature back to Sana. "Thank you," weakly came from his lips.

Sana grunted in reply before turning forward again and continuing to walk. After a step or so she halted quickly and turned back to the still dazed Snippy. "By the way, if you're going to bitch about me not paying attention, you should at least pay attention yourself." And with that she turned around again and continued walking.

Snippy abashedly walked behind her, making sure to direct his attention to his surroundings again.

* * *

They walked in silence a while before Sana finally spoke, startling Snippy. "How much further?"

"Ah, only about ten minutes or so." He didn't look at her this time, wanting to stay alert.

There was another moment of silence before she spoke again. "So tell me about these acquaintances of yours." Her toned seemed a bit friendlier so he chanced a look. Her goggles shimmered blue as she turned to glance at him as well.

He turned back away, focusing again on his environment. "Well there's Engie. He's an Engineer. He's pretty normal but really quiet so I don't know much about him."

"Engie." She repeated after him, seemingly lost in thought.

"Yep, then there's Pilot. Now, there's a nutjob." He leaned back his head in frustration.

Sana looked at him, expecting him to continue on. When he didn't she again spoke up. "What do you mean?"

Snippy groaned throatily. "He's completely lost it! He's constantly on my case about the most ridiculous things. He thinks I'm out to 'steal Captain' from him so he's constantly blaming me for every little thing, calling me a Shoe, and trying to kill me every chance he gets!"

"Well that doesn't sound very nice. Why do you stay there if he hates you so much?" The tone in her voice was sincere, but for some reason it hurt Snippy to think about it.

_'Why do I stay there?' _He asked himself shaking his head. The back of his mind answered him teasingly, '_So you can at least pretend like you have friends.'_ Snippy growled under his breath. "I don't know," he finally answered, ignoring the mocking voice. "I guess because they're all pretty defenseless without me so I feel responsible in a way. I'm the only one who has any real survival skills."

"Oh." She was silent again pondering something. "What about this Captain guy?" She finally asked.

"Captain?" Snippy thought for a second, trying to think of a good way to describe Captain. "Well, you know, he's kinda messed up. He's constantly sending us on these odd missions to find or build stupid useless things. Sometimes it gets really dangerous. I've almost lost my life a few times because of him actually." That last sentence caused Snippy to grimace as he remembered all the missions that ended with him almost succumbing to death.

Sana took note of the pained look on his face. "I don't get it. If Pilot wants you dead and Captain is trying to get you killed, why do you stay to keep them safe if they obviously don't care about you?"

Snippy remained quiet, staring forward trying to think of the best way to answer, not willing to share the truth the voice in his mind had spoken earlier. It was then he was saved by a familiar sight.

"We're here."

* * *

"Ah , Mr. Snippy! You're back!" Captain yelled from one of the upper floors windows staring down on Snippy and Sana as they neared the entrance to the current base. "You're late! Or my watch is two days fast." He looked down at his wrist and tapped on an old leather bracelet which, although Snippy couldn't see at the time, had a watch face drawn on it in crayon. "Oh! And you bring another delicious volunteer for my army of minions! Wonderful! I'll be down to properly greet him to Captania after Engie finishes the latest chapter on how I defeated the army of Platypi led by Ceasar at the Battle of The Bulge during the Civil War of Sudan in Switzerland!" And with that Captain disappeared from the window.

Sana cocked her head. "The Battle of the Bulge was held in what was known at the time the Ardennes during World War Two and Caesar wa-"

Snippy cut her off before she could spout off everything wrong with his statement. "Just go along with whatever he says and stay close. There's no point trying to argue with him."

"But he's wrong!" She implored, sounding disgusted I could let him get away with such a treachery.

Snippy sighed, unsure how to explain this to her when a thought came to mind. "Think of it as an epic fictional fairytale. I told you Captain liked stories, especially ones that aren't real."

Sana stared at him for a second before nodding her head slowly. "I understand."

Snippy smiled behind his mask as he began to walk forward leading Sana inside.

Pilot was the first on to greet them in at the stairway.

"Halt, Shoe! What's the password!" Pilot held out his right hand, his left hand placed on his hip.

"What are you going on about? Get out of the way." Snippy didn't feel like dealing with this right now. He just wanted to get his report to Captain so they could all start heading to the new base Sana had so graciously offered them to use.

Pilot stood his ground. "BZZZZZ! Wrong! Two more wrong attempts and you're forever banned from Captania!"

Snippy could almost see the smug smile behind his mask. He closed his eyes put a hand behind his head; he really did not feel like dealing with Pilots shenanigans today, and to his surprise he didn't have to for now. He felt someone fly by him and his eyes jerked open, turning to see Pilot standing in front of Sana.

Sana stood still at attention as Pilot circled around her. Her lenses glinted green as her goggles stared straightforward. Pilot again stood in front of her. "Cadet!" He shouted into her face. Snippy was about to tackle him, upset that he would yell at a newcomer like that but held off at hearing her response.

"Yes, sir!" She still stood at attention, her mask straight forward, staring at Pilots chest. Her voice was deep again as she pretended to be a man.

Pilot also came to attention in front of her. "You have passed inspection! Carry on soldier! And be careful of this shoe!" He motioned at Snippy.

"Yes, sir!" She saluted Pilot who in turn saluted her and Pilot marched on down another hallway yelling cadences as he went.

Sana giggled as she skipped toward Snippy. "He's funny; I like him!" Snippy just shook his head in response, unsure if he liked this new development, but continued up the stairs now that the path had been cleared.

* * *

The finally reached the floor Captain was located on. It was easy to tell as you could hear the crashing and yelling as Captain described a particularly violent scene of his 'life.' They walked down the corridor until they found the room holding Engie and Captain.

Engie was sitting near the door, still unaware of the new arrivals. Captain was continuing his tirade around the room detailing how one particular platypi riding a horse had decapitated George Washington. Snippy leaned over Engie's shoulder to see the progress on Captains 'biography.' Instead of words Snippy saw images of a naked woman and Engie choking Captain among other doodles. "Some biography." Snippy said to Engie causing him to jump and slam the drawings into his chest so no one else could see.

"Damnit Charles!" Engie stare at him for a second before looking over his shoulder, noticing Sana in the background. "Who are you?"

Captain, finished with his story, interrupted before Sana could speak. "Of course! This is the newest of mein minions! Welcome to Captainia! We are happy to have you aboard!" Captain took a deep bow.

Sana curtseyed in response. "Thank you!" Her happy voice causing Engie to double back, looking her over again. Captain continued on as normal, talking about the nonsensical rules of Captania.

He leaned close to Snippy, whispering in his ear. "You found a female?" Snippy nodded slowly. "I'll be damned." The both watched as Sana's currently green lenses enthusiastically nodded, taking in every word that Captain said.

When he finished, he turned to Snippy. "Report, mein minion! Tell me all the fantastical facts of your current mission."

Snippy stepped forward. "Well Sana has a base, a very sturdy one in fact, that she's kindly offered us to bunk in. There's food and beds." Snippy looked over at Sana who nodded to reaffirm what Snippy had said.

"What scrumptious news! We shall make haste come morning, but for now let us feast in celebration then revitalize ourselves with the nightly sleepy expeditions into dreamland!"

* * *

As they settled into makeshift beds, Snippy turned to Sana saying a final goodnight. "If you need anything, just wake me up."

"I'm sure I can manage." She replied.

Snippy turned over and closed his eyes. He could have sworn he heard her softly whisper "Thank you." As he drifted into a surprisingly nightmare free sleep.

* * *

"Each friend represents a world in us, a world not born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born." -Anais Nin


	5. The Thing

**(A/N): **This is my Happy Birthday to me chapter. I figured I'd get it done before my birthday camping trip, so I apologize if it seems a bit rushed. Thank you everyone for the reviews as they really brighten my day! You're all wonderful! As always, I do hope you enjoy and constructive criticism is always welcome.

* * *

It was calm when Snippy woke to the pale light in the room, a dream slipping from his vision. Never had he slept so well in all his memories of living.

He rolled onto his back and stretched, yawning deeply, trying to recall the dream he had been having. He closed his eyes again and short visions of a blue butterfly danced across his mind's eye. He didn't recall ever actually seeing such a radiant butterfly, but he enjoyed trying to remember it in detail. He also enjoyed having the empty room all to himself. He rolled over again and huddled under his sheets, breathing deeply. Then it hit him.

He opened his eyes. Sana's empty bed roll lie next to him. He sat bolt upright and looked around. Pilot was gone as well. He sat quietly listening for any disturbance that could lead him to them. Then he heard it.

Yells. Faint yells that he couldn't quite make out. He stood up, throwing on his mask and jacket. He sat on his bed again to get on his boots when he heard something more. A shrill scream. A woman's scream.

"Fuck," was all he said before he dashed after the scream leaving one of his boots behind , the other on with shoe strings swaying behind him as he ran. He took each step three at a time, making his way down from the third floor, breaking out in a cold sweat imagining everything that could have happened. "Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck," was his mantra.

He was almost on the last flight of stairs when it happened. A misstep. The shoelace of his boot got caught under his foot and he felt himself losing control. The momentum of his lower body halted almost immediately while inertia carried his upper body forward full force. Hands shot out from his side trying to find something to hang onto with no luck. "Fuck!" He yelled tumbling down the last flight of stairs, landing with a loud crack on a plank of wood.

The yells stopped and pounding footsteps could be heard coming toward him, but he kept his eyes closed, focusing on getting up despite the pain.

He felt hands pushing him down again. "Mr. Buzzard, lay down where you are and don't move. Are you alright? What happened? Where's your other shoe?"

Snippy opened his eyes to everyone staring down at him, no one hurt, including Sana.

"I'm fine. I heard yelling so I ran down. Lousy stairs made me fall." He was glad he was wearing his mask to hide the blushing. Sana helped him to lay back down.

"Oh, I'm sorry to wake you! Pilot and I were playing warhawks and Engie was my plane and Captain was on Pilot's. Where are you feeling pain?" She stopped for a second, waiting for a reply.

"Uh, mainly my lower back." She gently turned him onto his stomach, placing her hands on his back, gently at first, testing different areas of his back to see if he reacted in pain while she continued to explain.

" Tell me if it begins to hurt. Well, Pilot ended up shooting me down because I couldn't get a good shot because of Captain's force field." When she was satisfied that there was no major damage she began palms down, circling her hands gently between his lower ribs and pelvis.

"Except Engie wouldn't fall over. " She stopped for a second to look at Engie standing behind her.

"Stupid flip-floppy idiot." Pilot said under his breath. "Doesn't know how to play right."

"Anyways, so I kicked him." Her round rubbing turned into a grabbing motion, slowly working out the muscles in his lower back.

"Fucking harder than necessary." Engie finally spoke up in defense of himself, crossing his arms.

"That's what you get for not following the rules." Pilot reminded him condescendingly. Engie turned toward him as if going to argue, but Captain interrupted before he could.

"It was the most scrumptious air battle of the decade! If only you wouldn't have slept through it!"

"That doesn't explain the scream." Snippy was trying to focus on the conversation, despite that the back massage he was getting was disrupting his thoughts.

"Well when I kicked him he didn't take it too well and he dropped me." Snippy's head shot up hearing this to glare at Engie from behind his lenses. Seeing him move so quickly she stopped the gentle kneading. "Does it feel better?"

As much as he didn't want her to stop he relented. "Yea, much, thanks." She stood up, dusting herself off and bent over to help Snippy up.

Captain sashayed over to Snippy and smacked him on the back making Snippy yelp in pain. "I am filled with joy to see you up. Now we are all prepared to spread the boarders of Captainia!" He raised his mug in victory. "Snippy! Grab mein rubber duck collection! Engie! You will pull my sled of wonderment!" Both Snippy and Engie groaned as they turned to start collecting necessities around the area. Captain continued on his delegation of tasks.

"Pilot, for your daring escapades this morning you shall lead the parade today! And my dear, dear new minion. You have much still too learn."

Sana lowered her head, visibly upset by the Captain's denunciations.

Captain continued, "Which is why I have decided I am going to adopt you." Snippy and Engie looked up from the bags they were packing. "By order of the jury of Captainia, you are now my progeny!"

Snippy then turned his eyes to Pilot, waiting for his outburst. He already had his hands clamped over his gas mask in what Snippy assumed was horror. It wasn't long before his look of horror was realized as a look of joy.

"You have been accepted by my Captain!" Pilot grabbed Sana in a hug and spun her around while continuing to describe all the fun they would have together training Photoshop and running missions together for Captain's glory. Sana returned the hug and skipped off between Captain and Pilot.

Snippy grabbed his bag, knuckles whitening. Engie gave the flustered man a look as he shoved items into his bag rather roughly.

"Charles?" Engie tried to get Snippy's attention, but he was a bit focused on the foul words falling endlessly from his lips. "Charles?" He tried again to no avail. With a sigh he set down the bag he was filling and walked over to the man, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"What?" The sharp reply didn't phase Engie in the slightest.

Engie took off his mask and looked at Snippy with earnest eyes. "Wanna talk about it?"

"There's nothing to talk about." Snippy pulled away, continuing to fill his sack.

Engie continued to stand by the agitated man, crossing his arms and placing his weight on one leg. His posture was both slightly feminine and taunting. "You're getting attached awfully quick; you don't even know this person."

Snippy threw the next can into the bag a bit more harshly. "I'm not attached, I'm just… I'm…"

"You've never had a love life, have you?" Engie's grin was smeared on his face, his eye's mocking, but the look was quickly wiped off with Snippy's reply.

"Says the man who masturbated to CGI porn on a daily basis. Woah buddy, your love life was so much better than mine."

Engie's face was red as he fumbled to get his mask back on and begin packing again. "You know," Engie started, his almost laughing voice prompting Snippy to look up, "I find it funny that the four most awkward non-relationship oriented guys got stuck together in the wasteland with the possible future mission of repopulating the world."

Snippy chuckled at this sudden realization, his anger leaving him. He had a point.

* * *

"Buzzard!" Sana came running through the door and tackled Snippy as he was finishing loading the sled with Engie. "Guess what!"

Engie looked around the cart to see what all the fuss was about but at the sight of Sana straddling Snippy, he shook his head and went back to packing.

Still in pain from earlier, Snippy batted away the stars from his eyes taking in a deep breath to combat the throbbing in his spine. "Hm?" was all he managed.

Her goggles flashed green as she giggled. "That's a horrible guess. Try again."

Snippy felt himself grin a bit as he lifted his head from the ground to look at Sana. "Okay, okay… Yo-ou found a piece of cake?"

"Nope, try again." He could hear the smile in her voice.

"You met Pilot's pet?"

"Yes! But no."

"You found a portal to an alternate universe where puppies and kittens rule all?"

She shook her head violently at the suggestion. "You're not even trying anymore, Birdy."

Snippy raised an eyebrow at the new nickname, but disregarded it for now. "Well there's so many possibilities. How can I guess."

She raised a finger to her chin, propping her elbow up with her other hand. "I s'pose you have a point. Okay then, I'll tell you." She leaned over to Snippy's ear, pulling her mask from her face. Drawing back his hood a bit, he could feel her breath on him. A small inhale and the whispered words slid out, "I have a secret." Then it was over. She was up, giggling and dancing around the room, while Snippy was left lying on the ground perplexed.

"You can't do that." He started, rising from the floor.

"Can't do what?" She asked with a pirouette.

"You can't just tell me you have a secret then not tell me the secret." She continued the dance to the music in her head with a fouetté en tournant.

"I can if I was told not to tell you." A graceful grand jeté then her imaginary music ended as she finished, striking an elegant pose.

Snippy threw his hands in the air exasperatedly, "Then why even bri-"

"Are mein minions ready to depart?" Captain's sonorous voice stopped Snippy mid-sentence.

Engie stood up after tightening the last belt on the ramp that held down their items. "Yeah, we're all set here."

"Vunderbar!" His arms stretched out, tea sloshing dangerously in his mug. "Pilot, lead the way!"

And with a salute pilot began walking pompously into the wasteland.

* * *

"How much longer?" Engie whined tiredly. The sled was growing heavier with each footstep.

"Almost there!" Sana said excitedly from Pilot's shoulders. Pilot, claiming she needed to train her flying skills, offered to be her plane. Snippy, wanting to remind them this was still a dangerous area and measures had to be taken to not draw unwanted attention, kept his mouth shut remembering his spat with her the previous day. Instead, he settled for pouting and glaring daggers at the back of Pilot's head.

"You're getting to the point of pathetic, Charles." Engie managed through panting breaths.

"We've already heard your opinion, and quite honestly I don't want to hear the bu-"

"There it is! Home sweet home!" Again Snippy had been cut off for the umpteenth time. As promised, across the graveyard of houses lie the small only slightly dilapidated house on the hill.

"Finally!" Engie breathed a sigh of relief glad the trip was almost over. He picked up the ropes again and went to step forward only to meet Snippy's arm. "Huh?" Snippy motioned him to be quiet.

"Stop. Get down." Snippy's rushed whisper alerted everyone, causing him to be the center of attention, but he didn't notice the stares. He dropped to the ground, his rifle poised and ready. Sana, Pilot, and Engie followed his lead with Captain still simply watching.

"What is wrong, Mr. Snippy?" Captain asked quizzically, cocking his head to the side for emphasis. Snippy simply brought a finger to his gas mask as a sign to hush then pointed across the wastes . All eyes followed the direction of his focus.

There, about half a mile away, a figure dressed in black could be seen walking across the path slowly.. Snippy looked through his scope, trying to get a better view.

Long dark robes covered him completely though they were shaggy and unkempt. A low hood covered his face keeping snippy from seeing him. One thing that really caught Snippy's attention however was the way it moved across the ruins. There was no jarring motion as it effortlessly made its way over broken beams and shattered glass. It almost seemed as if it was gliding rather than walking.

"Oh! Wonderful job yet again Mr. Snippy! You have found yet another minion!"

"Damnit, Captain, no!" Snippy tried to keep Captain from drawing its attention but it was too late, the figure stopped.

"Hello there, friend! Welcome to Captainia!" Captain was talking loudly beginning to walk toward the thing. The thing, noticing Captain, suddenly bolted towards him.

"It's them… the head." Snippy looked at Sana who had spoken so quietly he almost hadn't heard her, her goggles, flashing blue and red.

He didn't have time to ask. He looked back at the creature barreling towards Captain, a quarter of a mile away now, its robes billowing out behind him in a manner that made it look like it was floating. Snippy lined up his scope, aiming as it came closer. _'Not floating. That thing has more than two legs!'_ His breath caught in his throat and he knew this wouldn't end well. Aiming steadily, he fired, piercing the thing in the chest. The force of the shot threw it backwards, causing it to land on the ground.

"Birdy…" Sana's eyes were wide from seeing the hooded figure plowing toward them.

Captain, a few yards from Snippy now, looked back at him. "Well, that wasn't a very good way to greet a new friend. Go kiss and make up."

Snippy sighed angrily, standing up again, leaving the wide-eyed Sana and Engie behind. He went to stand in front of Captain. "That thing was going to kill you!"

"Birdy…"

"How do you know it did not want to just say 'Huloo?'" Captain crossed his arms, the tea teetering on the edge of his mug threatening to spill out.

"Are you serious right now?" Snippy gripped his rifle tightly, his hands turning white with the force.

"Birdy…"

"Listen to Captain you old shoe! Go apologize!" Pilot, copying Captain's stance, took his side faithfully.

"I can't believe you guys are stupid enough to think that that thing was just going to come over here and-"

"BIRDY!"

"What?!" Snippy snapped at Sana turning irritably toward the girl that was so insistent on having his attention.

"Behind you!" She was standing there pointing, her voice shrill with terror. Snippy turned around only to see black mass a mere twenty yards away. "Go for the head!"

He brought his rifle up. The creature's hood had fallen back, allowing Snippy to see two fingerlike mandibles twisting in front of a vertically oriented mouth with jagged ill-placed teeth. It's white face was splattered with black liquid dribbling from its mouth. Two large slit-like caves played down what Snippy assumed was the sides of his face leaving a blank spot where eyes should have been. Without hesitation, Snippy fired again, this time directing his bullet through its skull.

Again, the beast went down. Not wanting to chance it again, Snippy ran the few yards toward it, placing another two bullets into its head. He raised his own head looking again at Captain.

"Those things make horrible minions," was all Captain said before continuing to walk toward the house again. "Walk with me Tochter."

Sana, stood for a second, still coming to grips with what had just occurred, then she straightened herself out and began walking toward Captain.

Snippy stopped her for a second, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Are you alright?"

Her goggles flashed an icy blue as she looked down at his hand, then red as she lifted her face to look at him. Silent for a moment more she then pulled away, smacking his hand away with her own. "Don't touch me ever again." She continued on, catching up with Pilot and Captain.

Snippy watched her walk off, again confused. "What the hell'd I do now?"

Engie stepped up beside him, still slightly shaken by the recent events. "You know how she kept trying to get your attention earlier?"

"Yeah." Snippy turned his head to Engie.

"And you ignored her?"

Snippy stayed quiet, his cheeks turning slightly warm.

"Then when you finally did acknowledge her you sounded pretty much like an ass?"

"I wasn't upset with her!" Snippy quickly defended himself. "I was arguing with Captain and Pilot again, of course I was gonna sound kind'a mad!"

Engie shook head, sighing. "You still have a lot to learn about women. Help me with the sled so we can get to that house before another one of them shows up." He motioned to the dead creature on the ground before walking to grab the sled.

Snippy sighed, turning to watch the trio get further away, Sana's short frame standing out rather noticeably from Captain's and Pilot's. _'I'm never going to get this right, am I?'_ he thought to himself turning to go help Engie with the sled.

Somewhere in the back of his mind he heard the quiet, yet honest, retort of his subconscious: _'Nope.'_

* * *

_Been dazed and confused for so long it's not true._

_Wanted a woman, never bargained for you._

_Lot of people talk and few of them know,_

_soul of a woman was created below._

"Dazed and Confused" -Led Zeppelin


	6. My Butterfly

First off I'd like to thank everyone for the reviews and follows. Second I'd like to apologize for this update taking so long. With classes starting and having to apply for grad schools and such, time really has gotten away from me. This chapter is more filler than anything and was written up within a few hours tonight so sorry for any mistake I didn't catch. I hope you enjoy and constructive criticism is welcome as always!

* * *

The dimly lit corridor was a welcoming sight for Sana. Its musky aroma triggering memories of past not soon forgotten.

The pitter-patter of tiny feet on the concrete played through her mind. The men following her seemed oblivious to a little dirty-blonde haired girl that weaved her way through their feet, a small box clamped in her hands. She took a sharp turn into one of the rooms ahead.

As Sana approached the room she stopped, looking into it. A small candle sat flickering on a desk that was littered with odds and ends: wire, tools, old solar panels. The little girl was crying, holding the box at arms-length, kneeling beside an old man with kind green eyes.

_'Another one! I found another one!' she sobbed. 'We have to hurry and bury it!'_

_The old man placed a hand on her head, the other he used to wipe away her tears. 'Yes, my Butterfly. Now dry your tears; we'll take care of him in the morning.'_

_The little girls tears came anew. 'But I don't wanna look at it anymore! I don't like it! I hate it!'_

_'But it's dark out, you don't want him to think we're ashamed of him, do you? What's the one thing we must always do with our beloved departed?'_

_The little girl looked at the box in her hand. 'We must always respect them… I s'pose I can't see him in the box,' she mumbled, still upset._

_'Stay strong, my Butterfly. He'll be at peace tomorrow.'_

"Sana?" Her head quickly turned toward the source of the noise, falling on a confused looking Snippy. "You okay? You look a little lost."

She turned her head back to the doorway, peering into the darkness, no trace of the dancing flame on the desk, no voices, just an unending emptiness.

"Sana?" Again Snippy tried to catch her attention. "Is there something in there?" She noticed him starting to raise his gun.

"No!" She blurted, not wanting him to possibly destroy any of the rooms contents.

Snippy looked at her, his eye's more confused if that were possible. And there was something else. She recognized the look, but didn't dwell on it much longer. She had to quickly think of a way to cover her outburst so her new friends would not think her mad. "I thought I left the oven on is all!" _'Smooth' _she thought to herself sarcastically, an awkward smile masking her aggravation for not thinking of something better.

"Oh… Okay." Snippy let his rifle drop back to his side, still keeping his perplexed look.

Engie, who had been busy inspecting the lighting fixtures perked up at this time, "You have a working stove too?"

"Ah, well no." Sana laughed nervously, "But I can understand why you would think that. I just, ah…" Another nervous chuckle escaped Sana before Captain came to her rescue unknowingly.

"It is ok dearest! While I have never left on my stove, imaginary or not, I am sure it happens to others!" He patted her head. "Now, where is mein office?"

Glad to be moving on, Sana again smiled genuinely. "Right this way!" She turned away quickly heading further down the corridor, followed by Captain, Pilot, Engie, and a still very confused Snippy.

It wasn't long before Sana came to a 'T' in the hallway with a large metal door labeled 'Mess Hall' in large blocky white letters in front of them. "This is the kitchen in case you get hungry." She took the left hallway, continuing to point out the different doors. "This is a linen room. That's the storage closet." She opened the door to a walk-in closet, stepping inside the darkness, and grabbing a few things. When she came out she had four small matchboxes in her hand. Still holding them, she continued the tour, her guests trying to keep up with each of the rooms. "This is the showers. Ah, Captain," She stopped in front of a large wooden door labeled with the number '16' in the same blocky white print as the kitchen. "This will be your quarters."

She opened the door to a quaint office, allowing a small amount of light to pour in from the hallway. A small desk sat in the middle of the room on the grey floor, a single candle sitting on the desk. The walls were barren with the exception of brown stains tainting the once white paint and a single portrait of a Queen Alexandra's Birdwing butterfly.

"The door on the other wall leads to the bedroom." Sana pointed to another door hidden in the shadows. "We'll bring you sheets later, but here are some matches for the candle at least." She handed Captain one of the boxes. Snippy opened his mouth as if to object, but then settled for grimacing quietly to himself at the thought of Captain with matches. Sana continued, "We'll be right down the hallway if you need anything." Pilot nodded enthusiastically beside her, as if to reinforce her words.

"Wonderful! I will see you again soon with my amenities!" Patting Sana's head one last time, he walked into his room shutting the door behind him. How he could see without the light of the hallway and no lit match, no one quite knew.

Pilot sank a little, frowning at Sana who had received all of Captain's attention. Noticing this, Sana was quick to react. "Pilot! Do you mind running to the linen closet and bringing Captain the sheets for his bed?"

Pilot visibly perked up, "Oh yes! I'll pick out the softest, cuddliest sheets in there just for Captain!" He turned on his heel, skipping away to the linen closet they had passed earlier, continuing to talk to himself about finding one with rainbows or ponies decorating it.

Sana turned back to Engie, "Your room will be here, across from Captain's." She opened a door with a large '17' painted on it, handing a second pack of matches to him.

This room was simple. An old cot was placed in one corner with a small wooden table beside it. In the opposite corner there was a small wooden desk with a candle perched on top. Engie walked inside, pulling out a single match which he used to light the candle. The flickering light bathed the grubby walls which stood bare, with the exception of a simple yet odd drawing. Someone had painted a butterfly and bee directly on the wall. The butterfly was a pasty yellow, some of the wall's stains showing through. Not far above it, a bee in a completely different style was painted, a more scratchy, noisy picture. The bee's stinger was clearly visible, aiming at the butterfly, as if it were attacking.

"Lovely choice of art." Engie muttered under his breath sarcastically.

"Well you could sleep in the hallway if you prefer." Sana's tone was dangerous and Engie took note. She didn't appreciate her hospitality being complained about.

"No, no, it's fine." He stepped back out into the hallway, his brow furrowed. "I'm just going to go grab some of those sheets.

Sana caught his arm as he started walking away briskly. "The reason I chose this room for you, the next door over is a small work area with wire, tools, you name it." Her hazel eyes were almost black in the lighting of the hallway making her glare look all the more menacing. "If you don't like the room grow a pair of balls and tell me so I can give you another one in a corner where I don't have to put up with your shit." Then she let him go, her eyes still glowering. His arm dropped to his side. Snippy watched quietly, scared any sound or movement would provoke her anger at him again.

"Oh," quietly escaped Engie's lips. His face was burning red. "Thank you. This room will work perfectly." He lowered his head walking away again, somberly, passing Pilot who had just come back with a handful of sheets.

"There weren't any sheets with rainbows, or ponies, or even kittens, so I chose these. They're soft and cuddly and a pretty shade of pink just for Captain since I can't be there with him to keep him warm." Pilot's boyish face took on a debonair, full-faced smile, his green eye's smiling as well as he knocked softly, but excitedly on Captain's door. He looked like a child waiting for Santa to come down the chimney. He did not have to wait long before Captain opened the door donning a satin robe and pajama pants. His mask and hat remained covering his face and head; his ever steaming mug gently being cradled in his hands. To everyone's surprise, the candle was still not lit.

"Ja? I am very busy planning your missions for tomorrow, what do you need?" His voice was business-like despite his dress.

"I brought you coverings for your bed, Captain!" He lifted the sheets in offering.

"Ah! Fantastic! You win the minion of the day! Mr. Snippy, please see to it he has his picture taken and hung in the minion of the day gallery." Captain patted Pilots head before taking the sheets and again closing his door with a goodnight.

* * *

Sana continued to lead the now ecstatic Pilot and the not-so-ecstatic Snippy down the hallway, following it to the right. "This is another linen closet, and Pilot, you're room will be right across from it, here."

Pilot opened the door to his new room with the white blocky 61 on the front while Sana retrieved a few sheets for him. The room was laid out like Engie's with a small bed and side table with a candle on it. A bare desk was in the corner. "Oo-oh, it's so pretty!" Pilots attention was drawn to the only color in the room. A bright mural covered the wall of a kaiser-i-hind in flight above treetops. Portions of each wing were missing, leaving them tattered, but the painting was clear; there was no struggling. Across the top of the mural a string of words in a black cursive read 'Though his wings are ragged and frayed, in the air he still gracefully plays.'

"I'm glad you like it." A soft smile played on Sana's lips as she placed Pilot's sheets on his bed. Lighting the candle and placing the rest of the matches on the side table, she turned to pilot who was still staring at the wall.

He was looking, but his eyes seemed fogged over with memories. "I remember seeing one. It looked different, but it's wings were broken like this."

"They're fragile, but strong. Did you know some butterflies can fly with up to seventy-five percent of their wings missing?" Sana came to stand beside him to look at the wall. Snippy remained in the hallway, peeking in occasionally with a red face. "Sleep well, Pilot." Sana turned to leave, only to be caught by Pilot's arms embracing her from behind. She froze, caught off guard by this sudden reaction. She could feel Pilot's breath playing with hair that had come loose from her ponytail, as he had placed his forehead against the top of her head. Snippy's face came around the corner once more, only to see the precarious situation they were in. Eyes' widening, he quickly withdrew his head again.

"Thank you for being my friend." Pilot's voice was demure, hesitant, so unlike his typical cheerful self. Sana's face grew hot, still unsure of what was going on. They sat like this for a moment more before Sana turned toward him, standing on tip-toe to return his hug.

"I will always be your friend." His hold tightened a bit more in response before she broke away. "Goodnight." She walked out, getting a short glimpse of tired eyes before closing the door behind her.

* * *

Sana and Snippy continued to walk silently down the hallway until they reached another right turn, coming to more doors. Sana stopped in front of the one labeled 70. "Well… this will be you." She handed him the matches and a pair of sheets.

"Thanks." He turned opening the door to his dark room, closing it behind him quickly. "Shit…" He fumbled with the matches, finally getting one lit and making his way to the candle on the side table. He looked around his new room that was bathed in the flickering light, curious to see what butterfly memorabilia he was left with to admire, but he found nothing but blank walls. He couldn't help but feel disappointed. The door squeaked open behind him.

"Birdy?" Sana's meek voice broke the silence. Snippy simply grunted in response. "Why are you upset?" He looked at her, his face tired and the same look from earlier, but this time she realized what it was: the look of a troubled person. She felt it herself right now due to Pilot's earlier actions.

"I'm just tired." He set to putting the sheets on the bed.

"I don't believe you." Sana's voice was firm again.

"It's been a long day. Between the trek here, dealing with Captain, and that… that thing out there, I'm just ready for the day to end."

"Why won't you just tell me." Sana's voice began to grow an edge, warning him.

"I just did."

"Just tell me the truth, damnit! What's your problem?" She was now yelling, her eyes brimming with tears.

Snippy caught off guard and already upset by the events of the day spun around to face her, anger in his own icy blue eyes. "What's my problem? I don't have one! What's your problem?!"

She stared at him, mouth agape. Suddenly, bursting into tears, she threw his door open and ran across the hallway to another room. " Fuck you!" she yelled before slamming the door behind her, closing herself in the room.

He glared after her, walking across the room to slam his own door. He paced back and forth, spouting profanities under his breath, before sitting rather roughly on the bed, cradling his head in his hands. _What does she see in Pilot that I don't have? Why give everyone else a special room and all I get is this? Why is she always so short with me? Pilot and Captain could get away with murder it seems like. _

A sigh escaped his lips as he fell back into his unfinished bed. _And why do I care so much?_

"I guess I better go make sure she's okay." He stood up again, walking to the door.

* * *

"And when all the wars are over, a butterfly will still be beautiful." -Ruskin Bond in Scenes from a Writer's Life

Some random facts about the chapter that you probably figured out yourself:

The Queen Alexandra's Birdwing is beautiful, graceful, and quite prominent as a large butterfly, but because of it's food it can be toxic to certain things.

The butterfly being attacked by the bee (which doesn't happen often) is supposed to represent the mechanized hive-mind of Annet attacking Engie.

The Kaiser-i-hind is a rare swallowtail that can have an absolutely gorgeous iridescent green wing coloring (look it up!). They are strong and fast fliers and tend to protect their territory aggressively.


End file.
